Stephen K. (havan) reviewed on 2/2/2012 + 138 more book reviews

This time Cadfael leaves Wales behind and heads East toward Hales and Elford in the company of a lame Benedictine Brother Haluin. Together they hobble (literally as well as figuratively) through a decades old mystery only to encounter the book's only murder well toward the end. While the exact identity of that killer is never unmasked, the mystery that engenders it is finally resolved leaving the reader with a satisfying journey through mid 12th century England and warm feeling for the comfort and security the people of that time had for an all-knowing and benevolent God.

This is a wonderful addition to the Cadfael Saga and I highly recommend it to fans of historical fiction with just a leavening of mystery thrown in.

*** Potential Spoiler Alert ***

I note that another reviewer felt that this installment dealt with themes too mature for younger readers. At the risk of revealing too much there is a confession of pre-marital sex and also an attraction between two children who are thought to be first cousins. How protective parents can have no problem with their children reading about murders but shrink from any idea of sex outside marriage will forever puzzle me.

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